Abstract
Purpose:
Staining of ILM may be associated with toxicity, increased cost, and increased surgical time. Recently, there have been reports of infectious endophthalmitis associated with the use of some of these staining agents. Speckling of ILM by TA assists in visualization and removal of ILM. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the status of the perifoveal ILM after TA-assisted stripping of ILM.
Methods:
interventional, non-comparative, clinical case series. Participants included patients undergoing removal of ILM as part of macular hole or ERM surgery. The ILM was visualized by TA and removed with intraocular ILM forceps. Indocyanine green (ICG) was used to visualize the status of the remaining ILM. Quality of intraoperative visualization of retina was graded as good, fair, or poor. The extent of ILM removal was graded as: 1) Complete removal of perifoveal ILM, 2) >90% removal of Perifoveal ILM,3) 75-90% removal of perifoveal ILM, 4) 50-75% removal of perifoveal ILM, 5) < 50% removal of ILM, and 6) ILM removal with TA visualization was aborted and ILM peeling was completed by staining with ICG.
Results:
21 eyes of 21 patients were included in the study. Intraoperative visualization of retina was graded as good in 18 eyes, fair in 6 eyes, and poor in 2 eyes. Complete removal of perifoveal ILM (grade 1) was achieved in 21 (81%) eyes. ILM removal was grade 2 in 2 eye (8%), grade 3 in 1 eye, and grade 5 in 1 eye. In one eye ICG had to be used for visualization and subsequent removal of the ILM (grade 6).
Conclusions:
TA is a useful adjunct for intraoperative visualization of ILM. In most cases ILM can be removed without a need for staining of ILM, reducing risk of toxicity, infection, and cost. Staining of ILM with dyes such as ICG may be reserved for selected cases with suboptimal visualization. Techniques for ILM removal will be further discussed.
Keywords: 688 retina •
586 macular holes •
585 macula/fovea